


The Second Princess

by khilari



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-20 20:37:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/589398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khilari/pseuds/khilari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rescuing a princess from a dragon while trying to avoid the fate of a prince.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Second Princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arrogantemu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrogantemu/gifts).



The hospital was white, cold and sterile. The too bright light shone on the polished floors and Anthy was reminded of the haze over Ohtori in the mornings when the marble reflected the sun so brilliantly that the students seemed as if they might be floating. The roses in her hands were white too, creamy near the edges, spilling a faint trail of scent into the sterile air. The scent of sap joined it as she crushed the stems too hard and she stopped for a moment to touch the petals in apology before hurrying, feet tapping a staccato rhythm, after the nurse.

‘She’s in here.’ The nurse looked a little dazed. Anthy was not Utena’s relative, nor did she have any right to be here, and she’d used charm in place of arguments.

Anthy nodded. ‘Thank you.’

The room was full of swords, slicing up through the floor in jagged fans, blocking the door almost as soon as she was inside. Anthy gasped, hands tightening around the roses again. The same swords as always. The nurse walked through them effortlessly, unnoticing, checking on Utena and returning through them to nod to Anthy before leaving.

Anthy took a step forwards, trying to slide between them, and one sliced through her leg. She opened her mouth in a silent scream of agony. How had she endured this for so long? He leg, when she looked down, was whole and unmarked by blood. That didn’t mean the wound hadn’t been real. Still she walked forward, panting as each sword she brushed against sliced into her.

The swords stopped a few feet from the bed, forming a rough circle around it. Utena was asleep, an IV drip leading to one wrist, frowning slightly even in her comatose state, as if trying to remember something. Anthy put the roses in an empty vase by the bed and Utena stirred slightly, maybe at the scent, eyelids fluttering. The sound of screeching metal filled the room and Anthy spun, hair flying around her face, to see that the swords were moving closer, more pushing up through the floor to join their ranks.

‘Utena,’ she said, pressing back against the bed, eyes fixed on the swords. They were coming for Utena, for the sword of a true prince that still lay inside her. Once she woke, once her sword was reforged and she was aware, they would strike. Anthy turned, placing her hand on Utena’s chest, feeling the sword there. She could do what she had done once before and draw it, hide it away inside herself and draw all the hate and pain onto herself. She could ruin Utena the same way she’d ruined Dios, rather than see her tortured. But Anthy was not the same girl she had been then. ‘Utena,’ she said, more firmly, and reached for a rose, hearing the tiny _snick_ as she snapped the stem even above the screech of metal. She placed the rose on Utena’s breast, resting it on the thin hospital gown. ‘I am here.’

*

They were just inside the entrance to a cave, late evening sunshine falling through the opening and bathing a crescent of rock in golden light. Utena lay slumped against the rock wall, her body in the darkness while her face caught the light. Her eyelids fluttered and then her eyes opened, wide and blue. ‘Himemiya!’ she exclaimed, joyfully, then looked away, eyebrows drawing together in a frown. ‘I couldn’t save you.’

Anthy smiled at her. ‘Without you I wouldn’t be free.’ The light seemed darker, suddenly, and she looked outside. Hanging above them, so high the shapes couldn’t be made out and Anthy only knew what they were because it was inevitable, was a cloud of swords.

‘I’m glad,’ she heard Utena begin, behind her, and then there was a scream from within the cave. Utena stumbled to her feet. She was wearing her prince’s uniform, the white rose Anthy had given her still on her breast. ‘What was that?’

Anthy sighed. This, too, was inevitable. ‘There is a princess here.’

Another scream and Utena turned, running into the cave. Anthy caught up with her and grabbed her hand, not wanting to lose her in the dark. They ran, surefooted on the rough floor of the cave even as they sent stones skittering. The path tilted downwards, taking them below the surface of the world, and the smell of rust, snake and damp ashes hung unpleasantly in the air. It was getting warmer, Anthy could feel sweat beading on her face.

The cave passage they had been following opened up into a wider cavern, lit by a dull red glare. Metal objects, from jewellery to swords to cutlery and scrap metal, lay on the floor in heaps reflecting it. Some were polished, others scratched or rusting or smeared with dried blood. Above them loomed the source of the light. A dragon, huge and squat, with scales like plates and red light leaking out of the gaps between them. Its wings dragged on the cavern floor, looking like bundles of damp canvas, and each of its wickedly curved claws was as big as a sword.

In front of the dragon was the princess. A girl about ten, pehaps, with yellow hair cut into a bob. Her dress was white, but the lurid glow here turned it to shifting orange-red, and the hem was stained from dragging over the floor. There was blood running from her shoulder where a claw had nicked it and she was crying, pleading with the dragon not to eat her, apologising.

Utena moved forward and Anthy didn’t, their still linked hands holding Utena back. Utena turned, frowning, but as if puzzled rather than annoyed. Anthy looked down and then recognised her own mannerism from her years as the Rose Bride and forced herself to meet Utena’s eyes. ‘What if it wins?’ she asked. ‘Or if the swords reach you.’ She could still hear them, getting closer, the screech of metal against metal a counterpoint to the dragon’s harsh breathing and the princess’ cries.

‘I have to help her,’ said Utena. She smiled, and for a moment Anthy wondered if she understood, but then she saw how sad that smile was. ‘Isn’t this what it means to be a prince?’

‘This is why princes die.’ But how could Anthy ask Utena not to risk her life to save this princess when she had risked it to save Anthy? Could she really say _just me, not any of the other girls in the world_? She pulled Utena closer and rested the other hand against her chest, reaching for the sword there. Utena leant back as she did, the sword easily coming free. This time neither of them asked for the power to revolutionise the world, although if only this part could be revolutionised, if only the rules could be changed a little more, then it might save them. Anthy handed the sword to Utena.

‘Thank you,’ Utena’s gratitude was hard to face, and Anthy let herself look away this time. Only to be startled into meeting Utena’s eyes again when she felt Utena’s hand come to rest on her chest. The familiar feel of a sword being drawn made her lean backwards instinctively, but the Sword of Dios was gone — so what was being drawn? A long blade, leaf shaped and delicate looking but clearly lethal. Utena drew it free and held it out. ‘Did you want to fight?’

Was this hers? A heart strong enough to form a weapon. Anthy took the blade cautiously. ‘I don’t have much experience of fighting,’ she warned Utena. But until recently she had not had much experience of travelling alone, or working for a living, or a thousand other things.

Utena turned to the dragon with a look of determination. ‘We’ll be fine.’

They ran forwards, Utena leading. Utena jumped as they got close to the dragon, planting one foot firmly on its tail before leaping again and landing crouched in its back, her sword slashing at a wing joint. Lit now from below, the shadows on her face made it terrifying. Her uniform looked black with red trim, but although the rose petals were touched at the edges with orange the heart remained impossibly white. The dragon’s head whipped over its body, lips drawing back from blackened teeth.

Anthy darted around it, slicing up inexpertly at the uncovered arc of its neck, feeling her sword push between scales as it found a gap. It was nearly wrenched from her hands as the dragon reared. Behind her the princess clutched at her skirt and Anthy shook her off impatiently. The dragon swatted at them with one claw, without turning its head to see them, and Anthy and the princess both ran. The princess jumped from a pipe to a shield, clearly used to running over these mounds of treasure and scrap, and Anthy followed.

When she glanced back, Utena was slipping from her perch on the dragon’s back, clinging to a wing. Anthy bit her tongue to keep from crying out and distracting her, and saw Utena brace her feet against the dragon’s side. She pushed off and leapt clear, rolling when she hit the ground, then immediately back on her feet and taking a fighting stance.

A cluster of swords pushed through the wall of the cave, hanging there like some strange crystal formation. Anthy changed direction, trying to head back to Utena, and felt something roll under her feet, sending her to the ground. When she looked up the princess was standing over her, holding out a hand to her.

Anthy stared up at her, shocked, and wondered why it hadn’t occured to her that the child might help her. She had, she realised, been thinking of her as an enemy almost as much as the dragon itself. The person who would make Utena suffer for helping her. She took the small hand carefully, and stood up. ‘Thank you.’

The princess bit her lip. ‘Is there any way we can help her?’ she asked, eyes wide and fearful.

A taloned paw came down, surprisingly fast for something that size. Utena stood fast, holding her sword up with both hands, and pierced it right through, but even as the dragon bellowed its claws sliced across her braced arms.

‘Get me to her!’ Anthy demanded.

The princess ran nimbly across the heaps, still holding Anthy’s hand. The dragon backed off, licking its wounded paw with a mottled tongue while eyeing Utena warily with slitted eyes.

They reached Utena and Anthy pulled off her scarf, slicing it in half with her sword and using it to bind Utena’s arms. ‘Thank you,’ Utena gasped and then, surprised, ‘They don’t hurt.’

Anthy smiled. She hadn’t given up everything, even if she was no longer a witch. But then she was not quite Utena’s princess and certainly not a prince.

Another cluster of swords broke through the roof, causing a small fall of dust. The princess looked up. ‘What are they?’

‘Swords of hatred,’ said Anthy. ‘They are here to pierce a true prince.’

The princess looked at Utena, wide eyed. Utena was lifting her sword, flexing her bandaged arms. ‘But why,’ asked the princess.

‘Because the prince could not save all the girls in the world,’ Anthy answered. ‘If Utena saves you they might forgive her. Until next time, when there is another princess, and she is weaker from this fight. And the time after that.’

There were tears in the princess’ eyes. Utena put a hand on her head, smiling down at her. ‘It’s not your fault. I’ll be all right.’

‘But I don’t want you to be weaker from fighting for me and then be pierced by swords.’ The princess was crying now. ‘It’s cruel! I don’t want to be a princess if that’s what it means.’

‘It is cruel,’ said Anthy, as more swords came through the wall and the dragon lumbered to its feet.

Utena looked at it, expression fierce, and then back at the girl. ‘Would you rather fight beside us?’

The princess swallowed and nodded. Utena looked at Anthy, who leant forward and placed her hand on the girl’s chest. She could feel her heart beating fast, but she was a brave child after all. The sword that came free, leaving the girl wide eyed, was no elegant blade. A long dagger, looking half-forged with hammer marks still evident on it. But it had an edge. Anthy placed it gently in the girl’s hand.

‘Be careful,’ Utena said, smiling and ruffling the girl’s hair. ‘I’m more experienced at fighting, so just try to protect yourself.’

The dragon came at them in a rush, low to the ground and with a slight hitch in its movement whenever its wounded paw hit the ground. They darted sideways; Anthy one way, Utena and the princess the other. It twisted to follow Utena and Anthy thrust her sword into its shoulder joint as it did, throwing all her weight behind it. It roared, the sound echoing from the metal all around them. Anthy tugged her sword free, the effort throwing her backwards just as its head whipped around. Utena rolled under its swinging head, coming up in front of Anthy in time to slice it above the eye.

Its neck arched up, head moving out of their reach. The princess was standing on a platter the size of a bath, half covered by a heap of coins, looking anxiously around to see where Utena had gone. Anthy quickly stood up and they both started running towards her, they were hardly any distance away, really, but the dragon’s head was coming down on the girl, mouth open wide. She saw it and screamed, holding her small sword above her head instinctively, and the jaws closed on her.

‘No.’ Anthy could hear the sob in Utena’s voice, as her steps faltered.

The dragon slumped sideways, body sending treasure before it in a wave as it hit the ground. The jaws slid laxly open, revealing the trembling princess inside, her dress tattered and her sword stuck through the roof of its mouth.

Utena briefly closed her eyes. ‘Thank goodness.’

Anthy looked up. The swords were gone.

*

In the hospital room Utena’s eyes opened, wide and blue, looking about wildly for a moment before settling on Anthy. She sat up, looking down when she felt the tug of the IV line, and then arranged herself so it could still reach. The rose fell from where it had been balanced, to land on the floor. Around them the room was still and empty, the only sounds the distant footsteps of nurses and the beep of machines.

‘The princess?’ she asked.

‘She knows her own way home,’ Anthy answered. ‘Now she is free to find it.’

‘So that was real?’

Anthy considered that for a moment. ‘As real as the swords,’ she answered. ‘Real enough to kill.’

Utena nodded, as if she understood that answer or had even expected it. ‘I’m glad we could help her, then. I’m glad to see you as well. You’ll have to tell me what you’ve been doing.’

‘Travelling, mostly,’ Anthy answered. ‘Looking for you.’

From there they spoke of Anthy’s travels, and adventures more mundane but no less real than slaying dragons, until the nurse returned to find Utena awake and laughing.


End file.
